Gospel.com Blog

Do we know the exact location of Jesus’ tomb? What is the Shroud of Turin, and is it authentic or an elaborate hoax? Why were there guards at Jesus’ tomb, and who were they? If you’ve ever wondered about some of the details of the Easter story, our friends at the Archaeological Study Bible can help: they’ve created a site that looks at some of the most interesting situations, questions and objects surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection.

There are ten different entries, each discussing an Easter-related topic with insight provided by archaeological discoveries. Here’s an excerpt from the entry on the Upper Room—is it possible to identify the exact place in Jerusalem where it the Last Supper took place?

Christian tradition, supported by Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 310-386), identifies the site of Holy Zion Church in Jerusalem as the place where the upper room was located. This may well be correct, but the story is complicated and details are disputed by scholars. [...]

The traditional location of the upper room at Holy Zion Church is called the Cenacle or, in Latin, the Coenaculum. It is located outside the Old City near the Zion Gate and may be seen on the sixth-century Madaba Map, an ancient mosaic map of the Holy Land. The Cenacle is also (erroneously) referred to as David’s Tomb.

There’s plenty more to satisfy the archaeology geek in all of us. Explore it yourself here.

It’s John Calvin’s 500th birthday! Well, it isn’t exactly his birthday quite yet (that doesn’t happen until July 10 this year). But that hasn’t stopped a lot of people from celebrating the hugely influential theologian’s life and work—there are conferences engaging Calvin’s legacy scheduled all throughout the year.

You don’t have to adhere to Calvinist theology to acknowledge the enormous significance of Calvin’s contributions to church history. Calvinism continues to be an important influence in Christainity today; Time Magazine recently noted its resurgence in evangelical circles. In honor of Calvin, then, here are a few links to help you get in on the celebration this year:

• Not surprisingly, Calvin College in Grand Rapids has an extremely comprehensive list of Calvin-related conferences taking place in 2009. They’re taking place all over the world, from Tokyo to Calvin College’s own backyard in Michigan.
• Perhaps the biggest Calvin celebration this year is the Calvin Quicentenniary, a conference and tour that visits most of the major locations relevant to Calvin’s life and ministry, and which features talks by a wide range of Calvin scholars. Have room in your schedule to visit Geneva, Switzerland this July?
• Even if you’re not participating in the big Calvin conference just mentioned, the Calvin 500 Blog is posting daily about all manner of Calvin-related events, trivia, and discussion.
• If you aren’t familiar with John Calvin or his teachings, there’s a good overview of his life and theology at the Christain History Institute. The Wikipedia entries for John Calvin and Calvinism have more detailed information if you’re interested.
• Calvin’s most important written work, Institutes of the Christian Religion, is available online for free at Christian Classics Ethereal Library, if you really want to delve into Calvin’s ideas.
• Not every Christian adheres to Calvinist theology, of course. The main theological branch of Christianity that is generally set in opposition to Calvinism is Arminianism. Googling around the web will turn up a lot of different (and strongly-held) opinions about the two strains of theology; for a neutral perspective, start with Wikipedia’s entry on the ongoing Calvinism/Arminianism debate.

Calvin’s birthday might not be the flashiest event in church history, but it’s an important one. Take advantage of this anniversary to learn a bit more about one of the church’s most famous scholars!

What is a Valentine, exactly? It’s not just a mildly witty romantic card you pick up at the florist along with a bouquet of roses. Valentine—make that Saint Valentine, and there was more than one person who bore that title—was a Christian martyr, although details of his life (and his connection to what would become a holiday about romantic love) are somewhat vague. Christianity Today has a concise history of the holiday and the practice of card-exchanging on February 14, as does the Christian History Institute.

If your curiousity isn’t satisfied by those articles, the Wikipedia entry for Saint Valentine has more info, and History.com has an entire section devoted to the holiday.

It’s a big day for significant birthdays. 200 years ago today, two of the most influential men in recent Western history were born: Abraham Lincoln, who presided over the bloodiest moral and civil struggle in U.S. history, and Charles Darwin, who brought the concept of natural selection into the public sphere. It’s interesting to look back at major historical figures and try to sort out their religious beliefs; but as it turns out, the spiritual beliefs of both Lincoln and Darwin are surprisingly difficult to pin down, despite the major moral and religious repercussions of their actions and ideas.

I’ve gathered a few links exploring the ongoing quest to discern Lincoln’s and Darwin’s relationship to Christianity:

• Abraham Lincoln’s religious beliefs remain a puzzle, despite the fact that he consistently cast the Civil War and the struggle against slavery in moral and religious terms. Mark Noll has written an excellent essay about Lincoln’s beliefs, in which he argues that despite his lack of theological training or regular churchgoing, Lincoln articulated a surprisingly nuanced and thoughtful view of how God relates to nations and political structures. Wikipedia has a thorough review of Lincoln’s many, varied, and often vague references to his religious beliefs. One reason it’s hard to get a grasp on Lincoln’s beliefs is the tendency for different generations to interpret Lincoln’s words and deeds in radically different ways.



• Charles Darwin is remembered less fondly by many Christians today due to his theory of evolution, which continues to be a major issue in many Christian churches and denominations today. But was Darwin himself religious, or even Christian? Answers in Genesis, although certainly critical of Darwin’s legacy, has a very thorough look at Darwin’s religious beliefs and influences that challenges us not to be too quick to cast Darwin as a saint or a devil. For more on Darwin’s ongoing influence today, see this essay about Darwin in the New York Times earlier this week.

Given their massive role in shaping Western society, there’s no shortage of information online and in your local library about these two historical giants. (And their shared birthday has inspired others to link the two as fellow culture-shapers.) Whether you think Lincoln was a saintly leader or a conniving politician; whether you consider Darwin a champion of reason or a destroyer of faith, today’s a good day to read up a bit on one or both of these historical—and perhaps religious—icons.

Yesterday we posted the story of Jesus’ mountaintop transfiguration. Today, let’s follow up on the Bible’s account with a short essay about the significance of the Transfiguration. This devotional from Christian History Institute explains why the event was so important in the Gospel story:

The transfiguration is a key event in Christ’s life. It confirmed that Christ must die on the cross. Three gospel writers report it. Their simple statements have the ring of truth. Later, in one of his letters, Peter referred to the event, too, reminding his readers that he was an eyewitness to Christ’s glory that day.

The transfiguration confirmed that Jesus had God’s approval and was pure. It foreshadowed Christ’s entry (and eventually every Christian’s entry) into glory.

That essay is one of CHI’s daily stories from Christian history, which walk through the entire year’s worth of noteworthy events from Christian history.

Even if you aren’t a student of church history, you may have heard of the preacher and author Charles Spurgeon—his Morning and Evening daily devotionals have stood the test of time and remain extremely popular today.

While Spurgeon was quite serious about the Gospel message he preached, he was also known for his wit and sense of humor. While browsing through the article archives at the Evangelical Press Association website, I came across an interesting article about the great value that Spurgeon placed on humor in his life and ministry:

Spurgeon laughed as often as he could. He laughed at the ironies of life, he laughed at comical incidents, he laughed at the amusing elements of nature. He sometimes laughed at his critics. He loved to share wholesome jokes with his friends and colleagues in ministry. He was known to tell humorous stories from the pulpit. [...]

Spurgeon considered humor such an integral part of his ministry that a whole chapter in his autobiography is devoted to it. Humor permeates his sermons and writings, often woven into the fabric of his messages. It’s one reason among many why he is still so readable today.

You can get a feel for Spurgeon’s wit by reading some of the many sermons and devotionals he wrote. There’s the Morning and Evening devotional mentioned above, and if you really want to get to know your Spurgeon, there are over 700 sermons by Spurgeon awaiting your perusal over at SermonIndex.

Last Spring, the Discovery Channel aired a widely-viewed, sensational documentary suggesting that the remains of Jesus Christ had been found in a Jerusalem tomb—a find which, if genuine, would spell the end of Christianity as we know it. Living Hope Ministries is seeking to set the record straight, by going back and interviewing some of the same experts interviewed by the original documentary. Do they really believe the bones of Jesus have been found? And more importantly, do we really have a credible, objective reason for the Hope that we have in Christ? You can watch the trailer of The Jesus Tomb Hoax, and sign up to watch the full film online when it’s released.

If the Jesus Tomb controversy interests you, you might also check out material on it from two other members of the Gospel.com community—see “The So-Called Jesus Family Tomb” at Answers in Genesis and a series of blog posts about the controversy at GetReligion.org.

Have you ever looked around, taken stock of the spiritual apathy and confusion in our culture, and wished for a nationwide religious revival? If so, you’re not the first Christian to do so. If you’re despairing that a society-wide revival could ever take place, you might be surprised to learn that just a few hundred years ago, that’s exactly what happened!

I’m talking about the “Great Awakening” that swept through America in the 18th century, sparking great church growth, renewed missions work, and inter-denominational unity. Sound far-fetched? Here are a few resources to introduce you to the Great Awakening and the evangelists who helped spark it:

• First, read a brief overview of the Great Awakening—who started it and what it meant for an America increasingly affected by spiritual malaise and the humanist philosophies of the Enlightenment.
• Jonathan Edwards was a Puritan preacher who, distressed by what we saw happening (or not happening) in America’s churches, began a preaching tour that kickstarted a great spiritual revival. His 1741 sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (link goes to an audio reading of it) is one of the most famous sermons in all of Christian history. (You can listen to many more of his sermons at Sermon Index.)
• George Whitefield, a British evangelist and friend of Ben Franklin, was another major figure in the Great Awakening. Greatly upset by the “lukewarm Christianity” he saw all around him, he did all he could to shake Christians out of their stagnant spiritual state. Read more about Whitefield’s evangelistic work, or check out some of his many sermons. For a shorter sample of his teaching style, see this brief Whitefield excerpt on the importance of “frequent and devout prayer”.
• Revival didn’t end with the Great Awakening— it wasn’t long after that a Second Great Awakening was sparked, with an even greater impact on American society.

The preaching of Edwards, Whitefield, and other evangelists had a profound effect on their society—and if you take the time to read some of their sermons, you’ll be amazed at how relevant they are. Some of them feel like they could just as easily have been written in 2008! So next time you’re tempted to despair at the all the religious confusion we see in society around us, remember the Great Awakening, and be reminded that what seems impossible to man is quite possible for God.

What’s the worst thing Christians have ever done?

If you said “the Crusades,” it’s hard to argue with you. What could be more disturbing than the followers of Jesus Christ—whose most famous sermon specifically praised peacemakers and encouraged his followers to “love your enemies”—taking up the sword to slaughter their foes? The Crusades’ bloody legacy continues to plague Christian-Muslim relations even today, 900 years after the fact!

Church historians have struggled for centuries to figure out exactly what went wrong—how the church of Jesus Christ came to champion violent “holy war.” As uncomfortable as it is to think about such an ugly period of church history, Christians need to grapple with the Crusades if they’re going to understand the story of the Church.

We’ve tracked down several resources from around the Gospel.com community that should help you better understand what the Crusades were, how they happened, and why they’re still so important to us today. If you know the Crusades were a stain on church history but don’t know exactly how and why, explore these links and see what you learn:

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This week’s focus at Gospel.com is church history—the often inspiring, sometimes discouraging chain of people and events that embodied the Christian church throughout the centuries. It seems fitting to kick off our church history week by commemorating the birthday of one of the church’s greatest and most influential minds, Thomas Aquinas!

Aquinas, who yesterday would have turned 783 years old if he were still alive, is considered one of the greatest theologians in the history of the Christian church. While the popular stereotype of medieval theologians imagines them sitting around debating minutia (”How many angels could dance on the head of a pin?”), Aquinas wrestled with many of the same fundamental questions about God and Christianity that skeptics and believers ask today: Can the existence of God be proven by logic? How can God be three persons in one—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? How can Jesus have been both fully God and fully human?

Here are a few links to explore if you want to get to know this great theologian/philosopher a bit better:

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